Archive for category business

Conference calling companies are going to receive extra competition by a Skype and Citrix Partnership. This March, Skype announced at the Enterprise Connect 2011 conference that they will be partnering with Citrix Systems Inc., a worldwide leader in virtual computing and web collaboration.

The partnership will allow Skype to expand its business conference call features which allow all business sizes an easy to use web and audio environment. The experience will be enhanced with the GoToMeeting technology from Citrix by allowing internet conference call collaboration.

Some of the features that Skype already offers users are instant messaging, voice and video calling, group video calling, conferencing, and file sharing. Because Skype is used worldwide and is web based, it can be used to make an international conference call. The GoToMeeting technology will allow Skype business users to quickly make a conference call online audio meeting that people can join through Skype or the public telephone system. The SILK audio codec by Skype will ensure a practically crystal clear audio stream for the conference call.

According to the Skype news release, “In addition, it will enable rich and interactive screen sharing, whereby meeting hosts can easily walk through, annotate and highlight whatever they would like to show on their computer screen, such as a presentation or demonstration.”

Conference calling companies can expect Skype to be one of the major conference call providers when the new Web and audio conference call features become available near the end of the year.

– An online dating site called FilipinoCupid.com has become a popular venue for singles to meet as its membership has grown to over 2 million members.

The members mainly consist of Filipina women and singles from countries including the USA, UK, and Australia who are seeking a Filipina single. The thing that sets their online dating site apart from the rest is their member ratio of 2 females for every 1 male member and also the member interaction. It is usually the women who make the first contact.

Jason Johnson, Marketing Manager at Cupid Media says, “Achieving two million members is definitely a milestone for us and we aim to sustain this escalation in growth. With over 2000 new members joining daily, we want to ensure singles looking for a Filipino partner have the best opportunity to find their perfect match, no matter where in the world they are.”

– Despite the Obama administration’s aspirations to work with Republicans to bypass what is being haled as the ‘Federal Government Shutdown 2011,’ the White House is making preparations to continue business at reduced levels if it should occur.

If congressional leaders and President Obama cannot see eye to eye on how to support government operations for the last seven months of fiscal 2011, lawmakers have to devise and pass a short-term solution to temporarily continue funding for the government by March 4th. If neither of these scenarios happens, then the federal government shutdown 2011 will cause a partial decrease in operations and functions of various agencies.

Jay Carney, White House press secretary said yesterday, “There have been contingency plans for government shutdowns since 1980, and those plans are obviously updated accordingly, but they’ve been around for a long time.”

According to federal law, any employees that work through a shutdown have to be engaged in law enforcement or military duties, or must be providing medical services. Some departments may be able to keep employees on the job during the federal government shutdown 2011 if they are compensated via a different appropriations process.

The owner of the Golden Nugget, Landry’s Inc. will be purchasing the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City for $38 million. The deal is forecast to be completed in the second quarter of this year. The process will be subject to a working capital adjustment. The new owner, Landry’s, operates Golden Nugget casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada. Landry’s was made a private company by its management last year.

Last year, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. was taken over by bondholders as a result of its bankruptcy filings. The group has been trying to sell the Marina for several years. Coastal Marina LLC entered into a series of unsuccessful negotiations on the property, seeking to turn it into a Margaritaville casino resort.

In a separate statement issued today, CEO and owner of Landry’s Inc. Tilman Fertitta said he plans to renovate the property and rebrand it as a Golden Nugget resort.

– After the news that the United States added fewer jobs last month than economists had forecast, crude oil prices fell. Futures went down 1.7% after the Labor Department reported 36,000 new jobs in January. Predictions had placed new jobs around 146,000, according to a Bloomberg News survey. As demand decreased for oil, stockpiles of gasoline rose to an 18 year high, according to the Energy Department.

Crude oil futures are down 0.3% this week. Prices for March delivery declined by $1.51 to end at $89.03 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline futures also fell for March by 6.81 cents, to end the session at $2.4353.

Time Evans, an energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective in New York, said, “The fuel markets are weighing on crude. Today’s jobless numbers showed many fewer people got jobs than expected and that many others have simply given up looking for work, which raises concerns about U.S. consumer demand. We already are looking at weak demand and very high stockpiles.”

– CEO of MySpace Mike Jones announced in a statement that about 500 people will be laid off from a variety of divisions around the world. This will reduce the staff of MySpace by 47%.

“With our recent relaunch as an entertainment destination for Gen Y, we introduced a much tighter focus, a significantly streamlined product and an updated technology platform,” Jones stated.

Back in October the company first announced plans to change its image. MySpace will become an entertainment hub, rather than its original format of an online meeting place for friends. Internationally, MySpace will be partnering with companies in the UK, Australia, and Germany to manage advertising sales and content.

According to Jones, MySpace now is trending positively. More than 3.3 new profiles have been created since MySpace changed its look shortly after the October announcement. There has also been a 4% rise in use of the site via mobile devices between November and December.

“The new organizational structure will enable us to move more nimbly, develop products more quickly, and attain more flexibility on the financial side,” Jones added.

– Sales for BMW AG rose last year, with the company’s third largest market, China, up by 86.7%. Sales in the U.S., BMW’s second biggest market, were up 9.9% for the year. And in BMW’s largest world market, Germany, combined sales for the year were up 3.1%. Overall, sales of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars were up 13.6%.

The total cars sold were 1.46 million, up from 1.29 million the year before. Of the total sales in 2010, the core BMW brand sold more than 1.22 million. This was a gain of 14.6% over 2009. Sales of Mini autos rose 8.1%, and Rolls-Royce showed higher sales than any of the previous seven years since BMW took over the brand, with a 171% increase.

BMW board member Ian Robertson said that he expects in 2011 sales will exceed 1.5 million, which would again break records.

In a statement today, Robertson said, “While we closely watch some ongoing economic uncertainties throughout the world, we are certain to continue benefiting from our young model line-up and the ability of new vehicles such as BMW’s 5 series, X3 and X1 and the Mini Countryman.”

– Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. shut down the Trans Alaska Pipeline when a leak was found at the pump station in Prudhoe Bay. The operator of the pipeline, which carries about 12% of U.S. oil production, said that the leak was discovered Saturday morning, and that as a result they have cut output to 5% of the normal rate of 630,000 barrels per day.

Michelle Egan, a spokeswoman for Alyeska, said that there is no information on when normal production will resume. She told reporters that the leak was discovered in the basement of an intake station, and that it appears to be in a concrete-encased pipeline, which has minimized environmental impact.

The Alaska Pipeline runs for 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay south to the port of Valdez. Tankers in Valdez are still being loaded and leaving on schedule, while oil produced in Prudhoe Bay during the shutdown will be stored there until the pipeline reopens.

Major owners in the oil rich region of Alaska’s North Slope are BP, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil Corp. Alyeska is owned by these companies. This region of the U.S. is the third-largest oil producer, after the Gulf of Mexico and Texas. BP, which operates the Prudhoe Bay oil field, is starting to reduce production while the pipeline is being fixed.

Spokesman for BP Steve Rinehart said, “I can’t give you an estimate of how long it will take to get down to 5 percent, but we are working quickly and safely to do that.” Tasks include freeze-protecting lines and facilities, he said.

Germany is part of a monetary union, the Eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.

– German officials stated today that its economy is likely to continue its trend of strong growth in 2011. Despite a slight downturn in November, the biggest economy in Europe is showing no signs of instability. Imports for the country have reached a record high, and the number two exporter in the world isn’t expected to slow down industrial output or retail sales.

“Given a strong level of orders, the trend (higher in industrial output) should continue in the coming months,” German analysts stated.

Official data released on Thursday shows that industrial orders were five times higher than forecasts in November because the global demand for German chemicals, machine tools and vehicles is strong and steady. The numbers from November shows that imports were at the highest level since Germany started collecting data on its foreign trade in 1950.

According to analyst Frank Engels of Barclays Capital, German retail sales numbers can be highly volatile and “should be taken with a grain of salt.” Several other international analysts have expressed concern that the strong numbers won’t continue, with one commenting, “unless eurozone domestic spending begins to pick up, growth may begin to falter later in the year.”

– Close to 650,000 workers that currently earn minimum wage will be getting raises in 2011. The slight pay hikes in seven states will be tied to the increase of living costs. Raises will range from 9 to 12 cents per hour, depending on the state’s consumer price index.

In Colorado, the minimum wage will go from $7.25 to $7.36 an hour. Joe Martinez of Denver, is very happy with any extra financial help he can get.

“The prices of everything are going up — food, rent, electricity,” Martinez said. “I know it’s not a lot of money, but any extra money will help, you know?”

According to the National Employment Law Project in New York, an estimated 647,000 people will get bigger paychecks in Arizona, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Colorado, Vermont, and Washington.

Paul Sonn, the legal co-director for NELP, said, “It just ensures minimum wage keeps pace with the rising costs of necessities like milk and bread and gas.”